With the Reach divided between blacks and greens and Lord Lyonel Tyrell of Highgarden only a baby, his regent mother avoided risks and pursued neutrality for House Tyrell.[1] Instead of quickly marching armies from the Reach to join with the other green armies in the north to overwhelm the blacks, the Hightowers and their allies had to slowly fight through the Reach itself.

Just prior to the Battle of the Honeywine was the Battle of the Gullet, in which both sides suffered heavy losses.

Attacked from the front and the rear, Lord Hightower's lines were starting to crumble and defeat seemed all but a foregone conclusion. Just then, a massive shadow appeared in the sky above them, Prince Daeron Targaryen on his dragon, Tessarion. It was then that the battle turned to the favor of Aegon II's forces and the rout was underway with heavy losses in the retreat.[1]

The battle slowed the massive Hightower army that set out from Oldtown on its march north. Indirectly, this prevented the greens in the Reach from aiding the greens to the north. The westerlands' armies were annihilated in the Battle by the Lakeshore, while the green armies from the crownlands were destroyed in the Butcher's Ball.

Black forces continued to harass the Hightower army as it slowly advanced up the Roseroad, though Daeron flew on Tessarion to scout ahead for ambushes that they set. Eventually it began to approach King's Landing itself, resulting in the First Battle of Tumbleton.